Cam Ward

On the road to the 2006 Stanley Cup, Ward set several milestones- all of which were last achieved by Roy in 1986. He became the first rookie goalie in 20 years to record a shutout in the Stanley Cup Finals, the first rookie in 20 years to start a game in the Finals, and one of eleven rookies to record a shutout in the Finals. He tied the rookie record for wins in the playoffs, previously held by only Roy and Ron Hextall, and became the first rookie goalie to win the Conn Smythe Trophy since Hextall in 1987.

Great Rookie Tenders with Stanley Cup Success.

Cam Ward #30 Goaltender Carolina Hurricanes Height: 6-1 Weight: 200
Shoots: Left
Born: Feb 29, 1984 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Draft: 2002 - 1st round (25th overall) by the Carolina Hurricanes


Dream comes true for Ward
By Larry Wigge | NHL.com columnist
June 21, 2006

A piece taken from this article:

But seeing a rookie goalie like Ward overcome the usual nerves and pressures that normally requires a veteran netminder's poise and guile to take a team all the way to a championship becomes more than just a sidelight to the story behind the success of the Hurricanes this season. Especially when you consider that Ward is only the fourth rookie goaltender to win a Stanley Cup, joining Frank McCool with Toronto in 1945, Ken Dryden with Montreal in 1971 and Patrick Roy, also with Montreal, in 1986.

Great Rookie seasons, Do outstanding Rookie Netminders bring Stanley Cup Success?

The idea that a never before seen talent could come into a side, a National League and have the impact of heavily contributing to a teams Stanley Cup success is a romantic idea I would like to research, the undiscovered talent that shuts out the leagues celebrated legends. As I am also really interested in finding out more about net minders, where better to start than Ed Belfour and one of the greatest rookie seasons in NHL history.




In the 1989-90 season, Belfour began with the Canadian national men's hockey team, but was recalled by the Blackhawks for their postseason and set a 4-2 postseason mark with a 2.49 GAA. The next season, Belfour became the starting goalie, and turned in what many consider to be one of the best rookie seasons in NHL history. He notched 43 victories in 74 games (both NHL rookie and Blackhawk team records), finished the season with a 2.47 GAA and 4 shutouts. For his success, he received the Calder Memorial Trophy for outstanding play by a rookie, the Vezina Trophy for best goaltender and the William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest team goals-against. He was also nominated for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player, unprecedented at that time for a goaltender and rookie (Brett Hull of the St. Louis Blues won the award). He would win the Vezina Trophy again in 1993 and the Jennings Trophy in 1993, 1995, and 1999.

Belfour helped lead the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup Finals in the 1991-92 season, where they eventually lost in 4 games to the Pittsburgh Penguins, led by Mario Lemieux.


Great season, but no Stanley Cup.

Is it just about whose between the pipes?

Doing this research I have found that in many cases great net minders definitely contribute to their teams championship succeeds, if not being the complete reason. However, in some cases great net minders have got their teams to the final and been denied the ultimate gaol. So, what else plays a part if not the greatest of net minders? In the next part of this research idea I am going to return to Ed Belfour and then further explore the impact of Great Rookies and draft picks, does getting the draft pick right or finding new undiscovered talent move a side closer to Stanley Cup success?

Do great netminders bring Stanley Cup success?

The Edmonton Oilers dominated the National Hockey League (NHL) throughout the 1980s, in no small part due to the goaltending talents of Grant Fuhr. Fuhr was an indispensable component of a team that won five Stanley Cups in seven years, a sometimes brilliant defender who was particularly effective in playoff games. In 1988 Ralph Wiley called Fuhr—who was then 25—"the best goalie in the NHL. The best on earth."

Grant Fuhr.

In 1979, at the age of seventeen, Fuhr joined the Victoria Cougars of the WHL. After two stellar seasons in Victoria, which included the league championship and a trip to the Memorial Cup in 1981, Fuhr was drafted 8th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. He played for the Oilers for ten seasons, where he teamed up with Andy Moog for several of them to form one of the most formidable goaltending tandems in history, and won five Stanley Cups. He was the team's starting goaltender on the first four teams, but was injured and did not play in the 1990 playoffs, when the Oilers won for the fifth time. Fuhr played in the National Hockey League All-Star Game in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, and 1989. In 1987, he played in goal for the NHL All-Stars in both games of the Rendez-Vous '87 series against the Soviet National Team. In 1987, Fuhr backstopped Canada to a victory at the Canada Cup, playing in all nine games, then played in 75 regular season and 19 playoff games. He won his only Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender that year and finished second in voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP, behind Mario Lemieux and ahead of teammate Wayne Gretzky.

Do great Netminders bring their teams The Stanley Cup. Arguments against continued.

Marty Turco, who had a spectacular regular season in 2002-03, his first as the starter in Dallas. He went 31-10-1-0 and set a record for the lowest goals-against of the modern era (1.72). He was nearly as good in his first playoff experience, but that wasn't good enough as the Stars were upset in the second round by the Ducks, four games to two.

Miikka Kiprusoff in 2003-04. With only two playoff starts to his credit, he entered the playoffs that year as the league's top goalie, having just broken Turco's record. Kiprusoff was magnificent throughout the postseason but still failed to lead the Flames to the Cup.

Do great Netminders bring Stanley Cup victory. Arguments against. A return look at Fleury.

Reference source:

Article pasted from Puck Daddy.

Puck Daddy
Tuesday, Jun 10, 2008 9:22 am EDT
Despite 205 saves, Marc-Andre Fleury cost Penguins the Cup
By Greg Wyshynski

The carcass of a Stanley Cup runner-up is usually picked clean by now, but there's been curiously few blame games played involving the Pittsburgh Penguins after they lost to the Detroit Red Wings.
Most of the criticism has fallen to Evgeni Malkin, but it's been more curiosity about injuries than outright culpability. Perhaps the sense of inevitability that Sidney Crosby and the Penguins will return to the finals at some point has drained the desperation that accompanies a championship defeat. Perhaps the looming decisions this summer regarding Pittsburgh's free agents, and next year's free agents, have overshadowed any reviews of what could have been.
More likely, however, is that it quickly became apparent during the finals that the Red Wings were the superior team playing superior hockey. When the Penguins broke through, it was due to Detroit's complacency or lack of discipline. Game 5 is a classic not only for the litany of sports legends born from it, but because the odds seemed practically insurmountable for Pittsburgh at that point in the series.
So it's a little jarring to see blame heaped on any single Penguins player for the loss in the finals; especially when that player had 205 saves against the Red Wings and the game of his life in Game 5. But MSG's Stan Fischler, through an unnamed source, faults Marc-Andre Fleury:
Let's not get carried away with the Marc-Andre Fleury phenom stuff. One prominent goalie coach tells us that if anyone cost Pitt the series, it was the Pens' netminder. "He started the series badly and that's how he ended it-with two terrible goals in Game Six. The second [rebound] goal was bad and he had no business letting the puck go through his legs before he eventually knocked it in on the winner. By contrast, Chris Osgood made the saves that he had to make." The bottom line on Fleury is simple; his consistency is missing.
There's no question that Fleury's rebound control sucked for much of the series, and that he made Roman Cechmanek look like Marty Brodeur whenever he played the puck. And that "sit and score" goal in Game 6 officially replaced Tomas Holmstrom's rump as the butt of all postseason posterior jokes.
But he "cost Pitt the series?" Seriously? With a save percentage at .900 or above in Games 2-6, facing that many shots? With his Conn Smythe candidacy clearly announced? All due respect to the Maven, who's the only hockey journalist to witness both Jacques Plante's rookie season and the discovery of fire, but we disagree quite vehemently.

Do Great Netminders bring their teams The Stanley Cup...arguement in favour, contiuned.

Patrick Roy.

Nicknamed "St. Patrick", Roy split his professional career between the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League, winning two Stanley Cups with each franchise. In 2004, Roy was selected as the greatest goaltender in NHL history by a panel of 41 writers, coupled with a simultaneous fan poll.[1] On November 13, 2006, Roy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.[2] He is the only player in NHL history to have won the Conn Smythe Trophy, the award given to the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs, three times.

(Information from Wikipedia.)

In the '86 season, Roy started playing regularly for the Montreal Canadiens. He played 47 games during the regular season and won the starting job for the playoffs, where he emerged as a star,[3] leading his team to an unexpected Stanley Cup title and winning a Conn Smythe Trophy for the Most Valuable Player.As a 20-year old, he became the youngest Conn Smythe winner ever and was chosen for the NHL All-Rookie Team.

In the 1993 playoffs, after the Canadiens lost their first two games to their archrival Quebec Nordiques in the first round series, a newspaper in Roy's hometown district suggested that he be traded. Nordiques goaltending coach Dan Bouchard also proclaimed that his team had solved Roy. These comments seemed to fire up Roy, who responded by winning the next four games against the Nordiques, sweeping the Buffalo Sabres in the next round, and winning the first three against the New York Islanders to complete an eleven postseason game winning streak. Roy set a record during the postseason with 10 straight overtime wins, won the Stanley Cup, and was once again the Conn Smythe Trophy winner.

In 1995 the Canadiens traded Roy and captain Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky, and Andrei Kovalenko, which is sometimes called "Le Trade" ("The Trade").[10] After the trade, the Canadiens did not have a solid starting goaltender until Jose Theodore arrived in 2001. Since Le Trade, the Canadiens have won only four playoff series and missed the postseason several times; In contrast, Roy enjoyed great success in Colorado and won two Stanley Cups and two Presidents' Trophies. Montreal Gazette columnist Jack Todd, in a nod to other teams that have struggled since making odd personnel decisions, has written numerous times that the Canadiens are under "The Curse of St. Patrick." In hindsight, the trade was one of the most one-sided deals in NHL history. In 2004, ESPN called Roy's trade to Colorado a steal, and one of the worst moves ever made during the first 25 years of ESPN's existence. Canadiens General Manager Réjean Houle, who was in his first year on the job, was criticized for making the trade instead of resolving the tension between Roy and Tremblay.

The same season he was traded to the Avalanche, Roy helped lead them to their first Stanley Cup. He played for Colorado until his retirement in 2003, adding another Cup and capturing a record third Conn Smythe Trophy in 2001.

(Information for Wikipedia.)

Two teams. 4 Cups. One Patrick Roy.

Ed Belfour.

When Belfour became the Blackhawks starting minder in the 1989-90 season he had what many consider to be the greatest Rookie seasonso far in NHL history.

43 victories in 74 games, both Rookie and Blackhawk records, 2.47 GAA and 4 shut outs. Recieving the Vezina, Calder and William M. Jennings Trophies and nominated for the Hart Memorial Trophy.

Belfour went on to reach the Stanley Cup finals in 1991-92.

Great keeper or squad rebel?

1995-6, 1996-97 time spent in disputes with teams and back up minders.

1997, Belfour played 61 games for Dallas, 1.88GA, in the next season he won play offs against Patrick Roy and Grant Fuhr. 1999 the Stars won the cup. Belfour making 54 saves in the final game.

Cup winner, personal trophy winner, but renown for falling out with back up keepers and a mixed run of form, Great? Statistics would say yes, reasons for winning the Stanley cup, with 54 saves statistics would say yes, best ever Rookie season, yes. But only one Cup success with Dallas, this achievement was not replicated at San Jose, Chicago, Toronto, Florida, so was Balfour the reason for the Stars 1999 cup win?

Dominik Hasek-1999

1999 Stanley Cup Final

In 1999, Hašek averaged a career best 1.87 GAA and .937 save percentage, capturing him his third consecutive Vezina, and fifth overall. He was also a finalist for the Hart and Pearson trophies. Though the Sabres did not have a stellar regular season and finished with the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, they defeated the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs en route to a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Dallas Stars. The Sabres eventually lost the series four games to two, with the decisive sixth game being one of the longest Stanley Cup playoff games in NHL history. Hašek and Ed Belfour made 50 and 53 saves, respectively, in a sudden-death triple-overtime duel that only ended when Brett Hull scored a controversial Cup-winning goal with his foot in the goal crease.

During the 2007-08 season, he initially struggled and after his injury he was replaced by backup Chris Osgood. When Hašek recovered and got back into his stride, Detroit chose to alternate goaltenders in tandem instead of designating either as the backup. Detroit coach Mike Babcock announced Hašek to start in the 2008 playoffs. Through the first two games against the Nashville Predators, Detroit were victorious the first two games but after a lackluster performance in the next two, Osgood was declared as the number one goaltender for the playoffs.[38] Despite expressing disappointment at losing his starting position, Hašek maintained his professionalism in practice and continued to support his teammates, with Darren McCarty citing close relationship between Hašek and Osgood.[39] Eventually the Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games for the Stanley Cup.
Hašek is now contemplating retirement from the NHL, and is expected to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Stanley Cup Record:

Most Wins, Goaltender - Dominik Hasek: 41
Lowest Goals-Against Average - Dominik Hasek: 2.17
Most Shutouts - Dominik Hasek: 5

A five-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as Best Goaltender in the NHL, Hasek also picked up two Hart Trophies as the league's Most Valuable Player. The sport's most prestigious award, the Stanley Cup, eluded Hasek until his final season in the NHL, when he helped the Detroit Red Wings become NHL champions in 2002. Outside the NHL, Hasek also claimed an Olympic Gold Medal as part of the Czech Republic's hockey team at the 1998 Nagano Games. Each of these accomplishments helped to maintain Hasek's image as "The Dominator," a nickname he earned for his commanding presence on the ice.

So, "The Dominator" was so close to bringing The Stanley Cup to Buffalo, but the Trophy avoided his grasp until 2002, when he was part of a remarkably tight and physical defensive unit and 2008 when he lost his starting position to Chris Osgood. His stats are excellent, but was he the reason Detroit lifted the Cup?